Republic. . .Whats next?
 

It seems as though everyone being hired on with Republic right now are getting the CRJ. . . Am I right? If so what are your predictions on the next aircraft that they will need to staff?

I don't have the actual numbers, but I doubt most new hires are going to the CRJ. Growth and presumably staffing needs are coming from 175 deliveries. The CRJ will be phased out in the coming years and no additional CRJ airframe deliveries are occurring.

In short, ALL aircraft need to be staffed better and, as a new-hire, one could receive any aircraft/certificate combination right now. I'd just assume the CRJ is currently the most adequately staffed of the 3 airframes. There have been numerous captains flying as FO's on the Republic side, so I'm guessin we are pretty short; any Republic reserve FO's feel free to chime in.

This company has terrific growth potential...look at what's it has done in just the last 5 yrs.

Yes and no.. with the rate oil is increasing, I will not be the least bit surprised when our codeshare partners start reducing flying. Lets face it, the 170 platform is a gas guzzling pig. How long before airlines realize they have to go back to the old structure of more seats available on fewer departures (lower CASM); or do they even consider that option??

On a side note, ALL our agreements require the parent company to pay for 100% of the fuel.

Actually dude, the gas per seat/mile of the 170 is pretty darn good, for a jet. You'd have to go back to prop to beat it. The 145 is the gas hog.

Unless you look at the CRJ700..........

How much more growth is there going to be at the regional level in the next 5 years? How many 50 jets will go away in the next 5 years? How many of those 50 seaters will be replaced with 70-86 seat airframes?

I said two years ago the fast upgrades at RAH would slow down. I was wrong.

The world is much different now than it was in early 2006...and I seriously doubt somebody hired today will be able to hold upgrade in 18 months.

I agree, when comparing the statistics from a friend of mine on the E-170, the CR7 & 9 have better fuel efficiency. Yes, according to him even the CR9 burns less than the E-170 and it carries more Pax.

No flaming so let’s leave it at that.

The E-jets essentially corrected all of the pax-comfort issues associated with RJ's, and this is HUGE.

I think Embraer was on the verge of putting Bomardier out of the RJ business, and the industry order statistics show this: A very large drop off in CRJ orders over the last several years, followed by a massive resurgence in 2007.

The E-jet was designed when oil was $25. A 15% fuel economy penalty was deemed acceptable to enhance pax comfort...made sense in 2004. But 15% of $110 is WAY more significant than 15% of $25. Oil saved the CRJ.

And even with all that our codeshares want them... our DAL flying out of ATL will take delivery of 16 E175's through the end of the year..... go figure... we are flying LONG stuff... over 3 hours each way with alot of our flying now.... lots of long mexico and stuff.... i tend to think comfort DOES matter when you start flying ATL to GDL or BJX or MTY.....ELP or DEN.... where this business is headed is anyones guess..... just fly the line and wait to see what happens.

I'll be honest with you, I think the previous poster's were spot on. The CRJ's/ERJ-145's are horribly uncomfortable on any flight longer then 45 minutes! Awhile back I flew out to CVG from EWR to interview with Comair. I sat in the back of a CRJ-700 by ASA and I was uncomfortable as anything after 30-40 mins. And I'm not a big guy.

The E170/175's are 10 times more comfortable. Republic is also replacing the 170's with 175's. I assume this has to do with the fact that it has more seats but the same fuel economy, thus making a few extra dollars.

I also agree that despite the ridiculous oil prices, the RAH flying is in high demand by the code shares. I don't know what the future holds. Like the poster before said - just fly the line and see what happens.

I think oil prices will come down once GW Bush gets out of office. If a democrat takes office, I suspect we'll see fuel prices come back to a sane level.

Are you kidding me! I know we are not supposed to talk politics on here, but the dems are not going to do anything to help the gas prices. People just seem to think the dems will come in a make this a better world to live in! NOT going to happen. Bush isn't the smartest guy but he has done some good for the country. Lets be realistic, neither one of the parties is all that good.

I'll give you that. Politics are politics and both sides suck. Bush has done little good for the Country. Our economy hasn't seen a slump like this in a LONG time. Bush is horrible at managing the Country and our money. Everyone was on the bandwagon right after 9/11. So was I and I was in the military when it happened. At this point, we just need him out of office and honestly, I'd rather see a Democrat in there this time. I've voted Republican the last few elections and after the recent financial strain we've all been in, I'm going Democrat!

Anyway, enough about politics! Back to Republic - RAH rocks! :D

Im just finishing up indoc now and half were CRJ and the other half were ERJ on the Chautauqua side. Had the 60 person staff meeting with the CEO and COO and was really impressed with their outlook and reality based thoughts on were we were going in the next few years. They are defiantly going to larger capacity as time goes on and as codeshares allow. People can hate them for it but thats what many legacys want (despite their pilot group) and thats what Republic is going to give them.

WOW bro.

Why did you go to Republic after a hiring blitz?

Don't you think that is poor judgement? Unless you don't care about upgrade? I forsee it becomming 4-5 year over there.

Do you ever wonder why your flying is in demand? It's because you're so cheap!

As a former Colgan guy and brand new FO @ CAL, calling out the Republic guys on pay and cheap contracts???

Let the ink dry on that new license before pulling some ignorant comments, especially with your background.

$27K 1st year @ Colgan? Who are you kidding?

And I forsee that upgrade time is going to be 12-14 years at Continental. Don't think so? I do. I don't even work there and thats my opinion.

Sound stupid? So does you giving some arbitrary upgrade number at a company you don't work for.

Stupidest comment I have ever read...:rolleyes: Do you base your entire political views on what Fox News reports, or do you simply use polls to guide your views? (don't get me started on those polls)

Umm, do you really think that pax care about comfort? Nope, they want the cheapest price possible (most of them), that's why I think the EJets are up a creek; they guzzle gas when a 700/900 does more for less. We'll have to see what happens. But who cares, all these planes, and the -200/145 for that matter, belong at mainline.

at least we have health insurance in our first 6 months of employment!

Wrong. I hear passengers all the time talk about how much they like the comfort of the EJets and how uncomfortable those "other skinny ones" are.

Be that as it may, the average passenger isn't willing to pay a penny more for that comfort.

With fares increasing, the "average" passenger will likely fly less and the business travel will definitely pay for the comfort.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...ncreases_N.htm

I remember they used to say the same thing decades ago about automobiles. People would only pay so much for gas before they would stop using their cars as a means to get from point A to point B. Problem was they offered up no other viable mode of transportation to replace their car if this happened. Same thing with air travel now. We have made it so convenient for the travelling public to fly from point A to point B that, really, what other alternative is out there for them if ticket prices rise? Greyhound? Amtrak? Hop in the family truckster and pay 3 times as much and spend 5 times as long to get to the same place? I think its an antiquated philosophy thinking that folks won't pay more. They have become so used to easy air travel that they have no alternative. They still need to travel and they want to get to where they are going fast and cheap. If cheap goes away they still will opt for fast.

I agree. E175s were attactive to majors when gas was a whole lot cheaper than now. Now that the oil price has gone through the roof, I am getting feedbacks that E145s, CRj200s and even E175s are on their way out. As an example, if NWA/DAL merges, which appears imminent, NWA has options for any Bombardier products. This means even CRJ900s will be phased out in the next few years. NWA has experimented with E175s with Compass, and the results are not pretty. Maintenance tech has told me that E175s are having way too many problems and costs more to run than CRJ900s. DAL seems to prefer Boeing and US made aircraft, whereas NWA does not care as long as they are economical to operate. NWA DC9s will probably be replaced with Bombardier C Series aircraft to be flown by mainline pilots.

I think there will be a major reshuffling of regionals in the next few years and it will be good for some, but bad for the most. Emphasis will be on bigger jets with at least 100 seats, and unless they change the scvope clause, which I think is a very bad idea, this flying will remain at the majors. This means reduction in RJ flying whether it is E175s or CRJs. Major airlines are run by beancounters and they do not care about pax comfort on domestic routes where they do not make money.

True. Most search in Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia etc for the cheapest fare and they do not even look at whether they will be flying on E175s or CRJs. In fact, I asked several passengers on my last trip and none of them could tell the difference between E175s and CRJ900s. They all said they are smaller regional jets which they do not like but have no choice.

I think it's ignorant to believe that republics upgrades will stay as low as they are. A company can only grow so much, and after hiring well over 1000 pilots in the last year to year and 1/2, it's only a matter of time for the upgrade times to swell.

There is NO airplane that is economical at $110 per barrel.......not the CR200, E175, 737 or 777.

Bigger jets can spread out the cost so it will be more economical if the load factor justifies it. That's why I think majors are going to veer off 50 seat and 76 seat RJs, and go in the direction of 100 or larger jets. Smaller jets will still be in service for a few more years.

More economical than smaller frames but not considered "economical" no matter how you slice it.